


Coming back

by SherlockianGirl14



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M, gabriel is alive again, sabriel if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-21
Updated: 2016-08-21
Packaged: 2018-08-10 04:03:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7829743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SherlockianGirl14/pseuds/SherlockianGirl14
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Gabriel turns up on the Winchester's doorstep, Dean refuses any involvement, leaving Sam (and later Castiel) to deal with him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coming back

When Gabriel first turned up, there was carnage.  
"Take him? You want us to fucking TAKE HIM IN?"  
"Dean, he's human now. He HELPED us."  
"He killed people."  
"So did Bobby. Remember? He killed his father. Or how about when Cas went off the radar and onto a killing spree?"  
"Those are different!"  
"Or how about when-"  
"Shut up, Sam. Shut the fuck up! It's different- he's been doing this for- for years!"  
"He's defenceless."  
"And if a human mass murderer rocked up on our doorstep, you'd let 'em right on in here? Offer 'em a beer and a bed?"  
"He thought he was doing the right thing?"  
"Did he really? Because I remember him dicking with us, and that sure as hell didn't seem like a righteous labour for him. He loved it!"  
"He was trying to make US make the right choices! Dean, he knew all about this big idea that the world HAD to end, that we HAD to do what Lucifer and Michael wanted us to do. And when he realised that there was another way, he helped us- hell, he DIED for us!"  
"Really? 'Cause he's standing there right now, alive and well!"  
"Last time I checked, Dean-o, the pair of you have died once or twice yourselves," Gabriel interjected.  
"Shut up, man!"  
"Woah, Dean! I'm hurt!"  
"Seriously, Gabriel. Shut up. I'm trying to help you here."  
"You know what, Sam? Screw it. Screw it, damn everything, let him in if you really wanna. I'm going out. But you don't leave his side and if ONE THING happens, I won't think twice about blowing his brains out."  
Dean barged past Gabriel.   
"Sheesh. I mean, I wasn't expecting a welcome banner, but..." Gabriel broke off, pulling a face.  
"Shut up and get inside. Don't think this means I want you here."

. . . . .

When Gabriel had been there for a couple of days, the conflict simmered rather than boiled, becoming an uneasy truce- or, at least, a ceasefire.  
Dean would still deliberately cook for himself and Sam, missing Gabriel out. Gabriel would still bitch and gripe at Dean, getting on his nerves as much as he possibly could. But after a few hours of Gabriel being there, the screaming matches had stopped.  
Maybe it was that both parties knew that they could not trump the other. Maybe both were too weary to care.  
Sam was stuck in the middle, wearing himself thin watching Gabriel (since Dean refused to do it) whilst attempting to take on everything else just as before.

. . . . .

After Gabriel had been living with the Winchesters for a week, Castiel returned.  
Cas' reaction had been difficult to gauge. He had been a great mix of shocked, confused, angry and sad.  
Gabriel felt guiltiest when faced with his little brother.  
Castiel had taken over watching Gabriel. His sassy comments had stopped when faced with how life-worn his younger brother looked. He simply complied with Cas' grumpy commands- clearly, there WAS anger there, then.  
Relieved of 24/7 Gabriel-watching duties, Sam loosened up a little. Dean seemed consoled by Cas being there, especially when he had confirmed that Gabriel was de-powered and could not pull any stunts on them.

. . . . .

After Gabriel had settled in a little, he opened up to Sam.  
"How did you come back, anyway?" Sam had asked him, daring to push a little.  
It was 2am and Sam was on 'Gabriel duties'. For some reason neither could sleep, and so they were lay staring at the ceiling, Sam in bed and Gabriel on a mattress on the floor.  
"It's complicated," Gabriel sighed, but he didn't sound defensive, so Sam pushed.  
"Please?"  
"Okay. So. Uhhh... I guess the easiest way to explain it is... Okay, so going in there, I knew I could die. I needed to be sure I could come back and help you boys with those rings. I didn't expect it to take this long."  
"Okay, but what did you actually DO?"  
"Getting to it, Sammy, be patient," Gabriel grumbled in response. "I manifested some of my grace in that hotel. I was in Kali's room, managed to hide it without her noticing. It's not physical, you can't see it unless I want you to, so that was easy enough. I took a bigger piece out of me than I needed to build myself up, because I had to make sure it was disguising itself from another angel. I separated it entirely from me- like when twins split in the womb. Made sure it had all of me- the physical makeup of this vessel, my memories... My sparkling wit," he paused for a moment to laugh into the dark, but it sounded a little empty. "It's still me, it's just that I took a copy of me and threw it all into that little chunk of me. So when Lucifer killed me, it was totally separate, but still me. Like I say, it's more complicated than that. That's the gist of it, I guess, though."  
"But how come it took you so long to come back?"  
"It wasn't easy to rebuild. From that part of me, I had to work back up. That was probably a hundredth of all of me. That's like... I don't know, waiting for your big toe to grow to you-sized. It took me two years to even gain consciousness, Sam. Even then, I was paralysed. My grace was stretched- I couldn't push, it would have collapsed."  
"Are you you now?"  
"Other than being human, you mean. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm all caught up. I'm just run down, physically. A few days before I came to you, I broke a bone bumping into something. It healed fast enough, but I'm weak as hell."  
"Will you ever be an angel again?"  
"Oh, kid, I stopped being an angel a long time ago. In name, maybe, but not in nature."  
"You know what I mean," Sam replied, frowning at Gabriel's self-depreciation.  
"I'll never be an archangel again, juice-wise, of that I'm pretty sure. As for a plain angel, I'm not sure. Maybe. I mean, I'm shocked that I survived. I excepted for my heart to collapse in on itself or something, or my brain to form around part of the furniture."  
"Are you glad that you did?"  
"I wanted to help you guys. I knew I'd probably miss the apocalypse, but I also knew that if I did and we all made it, you boys would always be getting into some sort of trouble."  
"I didn't ask if you wanted to help. I asked if you're glad you're alive."  
"You're getting kind of personal there, kid. I may be kind of a sucky guy, and I know it, but I don't hate myself or hurt that much to off myself."  
"I mean, just... Do you wish you'd just let that be it for you?"  
"Jeez, Sam, will you give it a rest? If you want me dead, this place is full of guns, go ahead, shoot me!"  
"Sorry. That's not what I'm saying. At all, Gabriel. At ALL. I just... Look, Cas leaves notes for me sometimes when we switch over and he gets worried about you. He says you really aren't so into yourself. I need to make sure that you're safe around here."  
"Cas thinks that? Cas worries? YOU worry?"  
"Of course I do, moron!"  
"Thank you."  
"No problem, Gabriel."  
"I mean it, Sam. I don't think anyone has ever worried about me before."  
"I'm sure that's not true."  
"Sam, look. I overheard Dean a few days ago telling you that you could take me off watch. You said you were still worried. I thought you meant about me so I kept quiet. You meant for me, didn't you?"  
"I didn't know you heard that," Sam replied, biting his lip. He didn't answer, but his words sounded like a confession.  
"Nobody's ever cared that much. Weird. Who wouldn't want to hang with me constantly?"  
Sam smiled.


End file.
